1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle lighting device using an infrared sensor and a visible light source.
2. Background Art
In the past, a technique has been known for detecting a pedestrian or an obstacle around a vehicle using an infrared sensor and illuminating visible light from a visible light source to a detected object so as to assist a driver to see the object. For instance, JP-A-2005-205950 discloses an illumination device which photographs the pedestrian in an area in front of the vehicle at night using an infrared camera and detects a position of the pedestrian using an image processing device so as to illuminate visible light to a plurality of pedestrians in such a manner that a motor rotates a spot lamp to adjust a light path of the visible light.
However, according to the known illumination device, because the spot lamp is rotated in order to adjust the light path of the visible light, it is necessary to control a direction of the spot lamp in accordance with image data of the infrared camera. For this reason, it is necessary to use a high-cost image processing device. Also, it takes time to rotate a large-weight light source as well as takes time to process the image. As a result, there is a problem with a response to the detected object. Accordingly, when a fast moving object (for instance, a bicycle) is detected, a visible light illumination range may be later than the object. In addition, it is necessary to use a visible light source (for instance, a fog lamp) in addition to the spot lamp in order to handle a case where two objects are continuously detected.